Plans to spend more than $500 million in the next 10 years on transportation projects in the Chester and Montgomery county areas around Pottstown will move forward thanks to the approval of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

The planning agency for the nine-county region around Philadelphia announced Thursday that it has added an additional $10.5 billion worth of work to its list of projects through 2040 as the result of the passage of last year’s transportation bill.

Locally, the list of projects includes the replacement of the Keim Street Bridge, major repairs and bridge replacements on Route 422 from Royersford to the Berks County line, as well as connections on the Schuylkill River Trail between Pottstown and Parker Ford.

“Today’s action heralds one of the most ambitious and exciting periods of transportation infrastructure improvement in southeastern Pennsylvania and Montgomery County in our history,” Montgomery County Commissioners’ Vice Chairwoman Leslie Richards, and chairwoman of the DVRPC board, said in a press release. “There literally is not a corner of Montgomery County that won’t be positively influenced by this influx of sorely needed transportation funds.”

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There are also plenty of projects in Chester County, where more than $100 million in projects are planned, including safety and traffic improvements along Route 100 in Uwchlan, South Coventry, West Vincent and East Nantmeal; new roads and signal systems in Phoenixville and an expanded Route 29 bridge linking the Schuylkill River Trail in Mont Clare to Phoenixville.

The total of projects in the Montgomery County portion of the region totals nearly $404 million and includes smaller projects as well, including the repair or replacement of Pottstown’s King Street Bridge over Manatawny Creek and an additional bridge to relieve congestion of Route 29 traffic over Perkiomen Creek in Collegeville on the stone bridge built in 1791 and the second oldest bridge in Pennsylvania.

Perhaps the largest and most significant project is the $145 million project to construct a new Route 422 bridge over the Schuylkill River in Upper Merion and West Norriton that will carry westbound traffic, while the existing bridge will remain to carry eastbound traffic.

Work on that project is slated to begin in fiscal year 2016.

“These new projects will rebuild our roadway and transit systems, help them to operate more efficiently, and begin to expand the system to serve the region’s growing population and employment,” DVRPC Executive Director Barry Seymour said in a press release.

The list of projects is fiscally constrained, which means the total of all of the projects cannot exceed the cost of the amount of money the region will get during the 12-year period. The list includes federally funded projects, regionally significant projects, public transportation projects, bicycle and pedestrian improvements and freight-related projects.

Visit our website www.timesherald.com for a complete list and brief descriptions of projects in the greater Pottstown area in Chester and Montgomery counties.